In 2016, Suzan Harris took over as a first-time principal at the Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Bibb County, Ga. She faced the same challenges as any new principal鈥攇etting grades up, curbing absenteeism, supporting teachers in their professional development.
But there was an added complexity to her situation. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary was only a year old鈥攖he result of a merger between two schools with very different cultures.
One of the former schools, King-Danforth Elementary, was perceived to have more discipline problems and weaker teachers than the other school, Jones Elementary, said Harris in an interview with Education Week.
鈥淲hen you look at the assessment data, they weren鈥檛 really all that different. But the judgment against one school was out and loud,鈥� she said.
By the time Harris joined as principal鈥攁 year in鈥攖eachers from the two schools had formed their own cliques, discipline problems were legion, and the school had slipped to the bottom 5 percent of the state rankings.
鈥淚 had to merge the identity of two sets of parents, teachers, kids 鈥� and shape it under a very powerful name. How would all the kids here become 鈥渙ur鈥� kids?鈥� said Harris.
Harris is among a growing list of principals who have or likely will lead merged school entities, as districts look to tighten their belts and close schools with low enrollment rates.
It鈥檚 already happening in some places: The San Antonio district in Texas decided last November to close 15 schools and merge three pairs of schools.
Both school closures鈥攁nd mergers鈥攁re hard on the communities served by the affected schools. Research has shown too, that schools with a larger concentration of Black students are three times more likely to close than other schools, raising questions about an inequitable distribution of a district鈥檚 resources.
For principals, navigating a merger successfully means attending both to the internal dynamics and the external dynamics, which often cause most of the political heat.
It can take years of planning to get it right.
鈥淲e started planning the merger in 2016 and it finally happened in 2019,鈥� said Michael Rubin, the principal of Uxbridge High School in Uxbridge, Mass., whose school merger was part of a plan to reduce operational costs. 鈥淲e closed our middle school and brought 8th graders to the high school because we wanted to give the highest number of students access to the newest facilities.鈥�
鈥淪chool leaders must navigate with a new set of people on the outside, to pull in resources for the new school,鈥� said Ebony Bridwell-Mitchell, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education who has studied the impact of school closures on communities. 鈥淗eading up a merged school is like launching a start-up. You鈥檙e building a whole new culture.鈥�
Focus on the grown-ups
Harris鈥� first job as a new principal was to break through the opposing cliques that teachers and students had formed. She had to fight the perception that one set of teachers or students coming in were 鈥渨orse鈥� than the other set. And she had to tackle real problems of disruptive behavior and new teachers with insufficient training in reading and math instruction. Harris attacked culture and academics together.
To improve student behavior, Harris introduced a rewards-based behavior framework. 鈥淲e modeled to kids what good behavior looks like, and we celebrated days with no [disciplinary] referrals,鈥� said Harris.
The new school also made some structural changes to the new building. 鈥淚nitially, we had a caf茅 style setup for lunch. That was the cause of a lot of fights, because with booths there wasn鈥檛 enough seating. I got enough seating [put in] for two grades to sit together. That killed a lot of the behavior issues,鈥� said Harris. Teachers could also stay in their classrooms for lunch. That way, said Harris, it was less stressful than watching over their class in a big group.
Harris also felt the perception against one group of teachers鈥攖hat they weren鈥檛 as effective in their instruction鈥攃ould be fixed with more training. She struck a deal with a local non-profit organization to provide early literacy training for free and introduced manipulatives to improve math instruction. Over time, Harris said, fewer students needed extra tutoring help once these measures were launched.
With these changes, the relationship between teachers improved and the cliques dissolved.
Their energy now went into making 鈥榦ur鈥� school successful. New people coming into the school don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 from Jones and who鈥檚 from King-Danforth, said Harris. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the adults you have to worry about.鈥�
It鈥檚 a whole new organization
Principals might be tempted to fold in a new school, or grade, into their existing systems.
But that鈥檚 the wrong way to go about it. 鈥淵ou have to realize you鈥檙e becoming a new type of organization,鈥� said Bridwell-Mitchell.
Rubin, the principal from Massachusetts, was conscious of this when his school added a new grade. He had to figure out how his existing high school students would interact with the new 8th graders.
鈥淚n a middle school, there are strict rules about which side of the corridor to pass on, or where to eat lunch. Now these kids were going to be treated like adults. Their teachers had to relinquish some control,鈥� said Rubin.
In preparation for the merger, Rubin and his team studied other 8th to 12th grade schools, and were convinced that the new students shouldn鈥檛 be isolated in any way. They would take the same buses and join the same clubs as their seniors.
New teachers had the same experience. 鈥淲e knew that middle school teachers would worry about whether their reputations carried through to the new school. Before the merger, my assistant principal went to the old middle school to meet with them. We even held some of our professional learning days there for the two groups of teachers to get to know each other,鈥� said Rubin.
And to avoid cliques, Rubin鈥檚 team deliberately split the 8th grade teachers up, rather than creating an 8th grade team, Rubin added.
Rubin鈥檚 methods have worked, but some say such approaches need to be handled delicately. Bridwell-Mitchell鈥檚 advice to principals is not to implode preexisting groups altogether. Instead, these groups should be nurtured and slowly merged with groups in the new school.
Mergers need an external stamp of approval
69传媒 are intricately connected to the communities they鈥檙e located in, and a closure or merger of that school will disrupt these ties. Principals need to think about how that will affect schools鈥� relationships with local non-profits, local school boards, university partners, and volunteers.
鈥淭hese are all resources that principals rely on to make things happen. The resources depend on concrete relationships, but they鈥檙e also based on perception of these stakeholders. When schools merge, principals must think about how these stakeholders look at the new entity,鈥� said Bridwell-Mitchell.
Principals can continue these associations鈥攁nd the resources they bring鈥攂y inviting these stakeholders into the new school. That鈥檚 what Harris did with the church leaders in her community.
鈥淐hurches who supported one school had to support 鈥榦ur鈥� school. We asked them to do this for MLK. That鈥檚 what changed their mindsets,鈥� said Harris.
Improvements inside the school also built a positive image outside it, helped in part by the community service that the new school participated in. 鈥淲e consciously worked on our image with the community,鈥� Harris added.
For Rubin, one stakeholder is still particularly tricky to bring around: parents.
When Uxbridge first added an extra grade, Rubin held several parent conferences in the new school, distributed FAQ fliers, and let new students and parents walk the halls to familiarize themselves with the building. But parents still worry about sending their kids鈥攕ome of whom spent nearly two years in remote learning during the pandemic鈥攖o a high school with much older kids.
鈥淭hey want to stay informed about everyday behavioral issues when they cropped up. We underestimated that,鈥� said Rubin. 鈥淧arents want to be present in every disciplinary conversation we have with their kids. That鈥檚 not how a high school operates.鈥�
It鈥檚 a precarious balance. When schools close, and their kids have to go a new school, parents lose the connection and control they had with the old school.
鈥淭he concern stems from a loss of control,鈥� Bridwell-Mitchell said. 鈥淚t may take a lot of energy upfront but to the extent possible, principals should try and mitigate that.鈥�
